BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2002 exhibition

Story by Jack Foley

THE
ANNUAL BGWildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, organised
by BBC Wildlife Magazine and The Natural History Museum and sponsored by the
BG Group, is now in its 19th year. Open to both amateur and professional photographers,
it is the most successful event of its kind in the world, attracting over
18,500 entries from more than 60 countries.

This year, 101 winning and commended photographs form a major exhibition at
The Natural History Museum, which will remain open until May before
touring the world.

In recent years, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year has been exhibited
in over 35 countries, including America, Brazil, Spain, Australia, Japan,
Sri Lanka and Morocco, and is now a regular event at many museums, galleries,
zoos and science centres across the globe.

Past winners have included a leopard under a rising moon, boxing hares, an
orang-utan cradling her baby, a common tern fishing and a blue iceberg in
Antarctica, while the range of subjects in this year's competition includes
striped mackerel feeding, juvenile rats drinking from a water butt, a hawk
eagle grappling with a monitor and a quiver tree after sunset.

Represented in the 2002 roll of honour are junior and adult photographers
from across the world, including the UK, Japan, France, USA, Belgium, Sweden
and Ecuador.

All of the prize-winning pictures were reproduced in a special 48-page souvenir
brochure with the November issue of BBC Wildlife Magazine, while the winning
and commended images were also published in a commemorative book, Wildlife
Photographer of the Year Portfolio 12, priced £25 and available from
the museum's bookshop and all good retailers.

This year's overall winner was Angie Scott's photograph of an African elephant
family watching a grey heron, which was taken on a Canon EOS-1V with 500mm
lens; 1/250 sec at f4.5; Fujichrome Velvia 50; image stabiliser; polarising
filter; tripod.

Commenting on the accolade, via the museum's website (link below), Ms Scott
explained: "I had seen elephants crossing at this beautiful spot on
the Luangwa River in Zambias South Luangwa National Park the day before
and had decided to return in the morning to try to photograph them. I had
just got myself settled under a bush when this family came trundling down
the sandy bank, eager to cool off and drink.

"Once
in the shallows, they relaxed, and the water settled back to its former glassy
stillness. A grey heron plopped down in front of them, ready to catch any
fish they stirred up, and this became the focus of their attention for a moment,
providing that extra element I needed for the composition.

"Then, as the matriarch led her family across, the youngest calf started
splashing and rolling, thrashing the water with its tiny trunk, barely able
to contain its own boundless energy. It was priceless. The others stopped
and waited patiently, almost as if in a trance (or maybe simply dozing), eventually
nudging the calf along until, finally, they reached the other bank."

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